Letter: Gov. Walker's decisions have repercussions

Gov. Walker's decisions have repercussions

Recently, the state Joint Finance Committee of the state Legislature upheld the governor's decision to refuse the federal expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

By doing so, the repercussions of his decision means that in the state of Wisconsin, some 90,000 people will not be covered by Medicaid. It also means that the state is also passing up some $120 million over the next two years and an additional $350 million by 2021. Incidentally, those figures could be much higher (sources: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Feb. 13 and Feb. 14).

The governor's reasoning is that those people who are between 100 percent and 133 percent of the federal poverty level can go on Obamacare. What he fails to understand is that even under the Affordable Care Act, there will be deductibles. Most people who are presently eligible for Medicaid or BadgerCare as it is known in Wisconsin, have a difficult enough time as it is just getting by with the daily essentials without having to worry about their health insurance.

The governor, however, has agreed to throw a bone to the hospitals by offering up to $73 million over two years to help alleviate the cost of emergency room service. It appears that he would rather pass up millions of dollars in federal money, letting it go to other states, and have the people of Wisconsin pick up the cost of a good share of the money that he wants to give to the hospitals. This is financial mismanagement at its worst.

This, however, is what you get when you have a governor who has his eyes on 2016 and is a captive of corporate interests and the Koch Bros. In the process, he is hurting some of the most vulnerable citizens of this state.

Ray Kalpinski

Wisconsin Rapids

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Letter: Gov. Walker's decisions have repercussions

Recently, the state Joint Finance Committee of the state Legislature upheld the governor's decision to refuse the federal expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

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